I am male and I started puberty 2 years ago, and lately I noticed that my voice can’t reach the middle-high notes when singing or humming. Instead, there is a period of silence and random pitched sounds coming from my vocal cords. Is this normal? If so, when will I be able to get back to those notes again?

During puberty the “voice box” (medical term= larynx) gets bigger and the “voice cords” become longer. This is normal and happens to both girls and guys but the temporary voice changes are more noticeable in guys. When the larynx is finished growing your voice will become stable, although generally guys’ are a little deeper after going through puberty.

Young Men’s Health (YMH) is produced by the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. The purpose of the website is to provide carefully researched health information to teenage boys and young men.